Sunday, January 16, 2011

Adventures in Food: Gnocchi Edition

Tonight, I had a severe case of writer's block. And not just block, really. It was a full blown case of writer's aversion. I didn't like my writing at that particular moment (or myself, life, the universe, and everything [You know how writers are. Our frustrations are epic!]). I needed to take a step back and return to the simple things in life.

Electing to watching the Jets/Patriots game (go LT!) and make gnocchi from scratch instead of writing, here's what I did:

Gwen says, "Hurry up and boil, potatoes!"

Once the potatoes were boiled, I mashed up a cup of potatoes with butter and salt and pepper (per the very clear and excellent recipe). At this point I thought, why ruin delicious mashed potatoes by making them into a gnocchi that I will inevitably botch? But the Jets were pressing on, and so did I.

Next came the dough! One cup of flour was plenty. The directions said knead, so I punched it warily a few times, then decided if you could see my knuckle imprints in the dough, it was good enough. Then I shaped the gnocchi into bite sized bits and got a good man to make the gnocchi sauce:

Voila! Dinner!

Now I feel much happier about the world. If only that meant my story was done and winding its brilliant way to the New Yorker.